Eric Dickerson joins concussion lawsuit against the NFL

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 21, 2012, 6:21 PM EDT

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Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson is the latest former superstar to sue the NFL over concussions.

Dickerson is part of a group of 15 retired players who filed a new suit against the NFL, claiming the league failed to adequately address concussions and their long-term consequences, NFLConcussionLitigation.com reports.

Others involved in this lawsuit include former AFL All-Star running back Hoyle Granger, who played in the 1960s and 1970s for the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints, and the estates of deceased former players David Lunceford and Ernie Stautner, both of whom were suffering from Alzheimer’s disease when they died.

Dickerson is one of the biggest names to join the concussion lawsuits to date. He led the league in rushing four times, was a six-time Pro Bowler and gained more than 13,000 total yards for the Rams, Colts, Raiders and Falcons. In retirement he’s had a number of TV jobs, including working as a sideline reporter on Monday Night Football.

More than 2,200 former players have joined a total of 80 concussion-related suits against the league.

Just start telling us who ISN’T suing the league. It’s easier. Also, there is a decent chance this will bring down the NFL for good. A judgement in favor of 2,200 plaintiffs will clean the league out. I don’t think enough people are talking about that very real possibility.

The players have ZERO chance of winning this as everyone thought concussions were “cob webs” and nobody was screaming about concerns about possible long term damage. “You should have known” is not a legal term and all these suits will be tossed. Now what the Cleveland Browns did to Colt McCoy was nearly criminal. He nearly got beheaded and the Browns said they “missed it because the trainers were working on other players”. They really screwed that deal up big time.

who even cares? can we just go ahead and figure on pretty much everyone who ever played the game will be joining this suit and move on? Is this really news anymore? Are we supposed to say “OOOOOOOO, now ERIC DICKERSON is involved and That changes Everything”? Who will it be tomorrow, Wed, Thurs? Big friggin deal already. By the way, when does this thing ever go to court? Couldn’t the NFL finally say just say “OK, it’s on! Let’s get to court before the rest of the world wants in on this.?”

More respect for Earl Campbell. That man came out of the game to being as close as you can to being an invalid but you don’t hear a peep from him nor does he complain. He respects the game and understands what the risks were brother. BRAVO EARL CAMPBELL.

What is taking so long for these players to decide whether or not they had a concussion ? And how is it the NFL’s fault? They all knew the possibilities of injury when they started. Maybe they need to sue the player that caused the injury?

dickerson wore every pad known to mankind. does this mean he thinks the NFL should have done more to protect him, though he took every precaution, played way past his expiration date, and STILL thinks he was wronged??
#thisisgettingwaypastoutofhand

I have lost all respect for these guys. As is the case in our society, there are the deserving, and the abusers. For example, work men’s comp is necessary for some, yet, it is a system that gets abused. Same with unemployment. What is next? The seven-man sleds of the NFL will make a case……??.

They may be onto something. Tobacco companies got sued from people that smoked and they won. Everyone should understand that they are not responsible for what they do. I am thinking of driving drunk tomorrow and sue someone for me doing that.

Dickerson is part of a group of 15 retired players who filed a new suit against the NFL, claiming the league failed to adequately address concussions and their long-term consequences,

then he can file a new suit against me for failing to adequately give a rats ass.
What is laughable is the fact that if it werent for football, half these jokers wouldnt have even made it into college…
too bad too sad

How can these idiots sit there and claim they didn’t know the dangers of playing this game? People have DIED playing football. They’ve been paralyzed. Did they really think that their noggins getting jarred around all the time wasn’t damaging?

No one forced these tools to play football. And what’s worse is I have no doubt that the players of today’s game that are all saying “we knew what we signed up for” would join this lawsuit in a heartbeat if they weren’t playing.

Problem with these lawsuits is that you cannot prove damage until you are dead on an autopsy table, so anyone who has played in the NFL and experienced a headache can sue.

Also, when in court, the NFL will point to the Peyton Manning statement and other similar statements where they lie on their preseason consussion screenings so they can resume playing sooner. The NFL will point to the current players, who have all the knowledge that the former players did not, and still have decided to play.

In other words, if the NFL lose this suit because a jury found that the NFL did suppress concussion data, how much would the NFL be liable for if nothing would have changed if they did not suppress it?

@twindaddy…. I could not agree more! As I’ve pointed out before they knew and took on extraordinary risks to play this game. People have died and been paralyzed. If you knew that and continued to play you cannot sue the league.

Simple case of man vs machine. Players(man) and the NFL (machine). My question from reading these blogs is that , Are so many people really missing the issue? These players gave the game all they had mentally and physically and when they had an head injury, they were told to shake it off get back in there and do your job. So they attempted to focus and keep playing while the NFL held information that very much said otherwise , very much otherwise and they neglected to delivery the information to its employees. Plan , period, simple….So to think that the retired players dont have a leg to stand on is officially obsurd.